In a surprising move, West began his performance with "Power," on an all-white stage that mimicked the imagery of the song's music video. But when it came to the second verse with the SNL, diss, 'Ye elected to use new lyrics. "The brown hero, live from Ground Zero / Machine gun flow, made her get a Ross Perot / And this is disestablishmentarianism / With my night goggles on, got military vision / And it’s still a very Christian way to think about livin’ / When you prayin’ for freedom ’cause your mind been in prison / ‘Cause they tryin’ to control every single big decision You ain’t effin’ the system, then why the eff is you livin’? / Look, dawg, you can cop whatever suits you on / Three-piece, cuff links and the accouterments / They been feedin’ us ish without the nutrients / So I’m back with another hit to let the truth be known / And your boy still fresh with the Gucci on / Them Italians sure know how to make what the moodies want / And they really can’t take what Doobie on / But I be on the same thing ’til you prove me wrong"

Afterwards, Kanye brought out Pusha T for "Runaway," which followed the pattern of their MTV Awards performance.